Perdue issues budget plea

State of the State address

ATLANTA - Gov. Sonny Perdue used his final State of the State speech Wednesday to issue a call to arms to Georgia legislators grappling with the most severe budget meltdown since the Great Depression.

"This is our time to carry a heavy load, to do the hard thing now for the sake of our children and grandchildren," Perdue told a joint session of the Georgia General Assembly.

Perdue said it's time to buckle down and "reject the gluttonous instinct of this age" to ensure future generations aren't saddled with crushing debt.

The speech evoked sacrifice and struggles throughout history from the Revolutionary Era to the Great Depression. But it was short on specifics. With anxiety over the state budget mounting, Perdue broke with tradition and didn't release his spending proposal on the same day as his address.

The Republican governor - his voice sometimes choking with emotion - urged state legislators to remember government's role in shielding the most vulnerable residents.

He pledged additional state cash - more than $70 million over two years - to Georgia's struggling mental health system, which is being monitored by the U.S. Department of Justice. "We cannot retreat from our duty to protect those who cannot protect themselves," he said.

Perdue's second term expires at the end of the year. He entered the governor's mansion in 2003 facing a budget crisis and seems set to leave office slashing Georgia's budget yet again.

Tax revenues in Georgia have plunged for 13 consecutive months, and legislators probably will have to slash another $1 billion from the state budget.

Perdue plans to release details of his spending proposal Friday.

He received a warm reception from the packed chamber, which honored him with a resolution recognizing his "long and faithful" public service.

Perdue became visibly teary-eyed, and his voice cracked as he thanked his wife, Mary, for standing by him for three decades.

He thanked legislators for indulging him as he took "this last lap around the track."

Republicans praised Perdue after the speech.

"It was really a call to action to challenge each of the legislators to remember why we're here," Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, a fellow Republican, said.